Press Releases, 31-01-2018

Discretionary government transfers granted for CSOs’ Europe information in 2018

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted EUR 370,000 in discretionary government transfers to 15 civil society organisations’ (CSOs) Europe information. The total number of supported projects is 18.

Discretionary government transfers are granted to CSOs in order to raise awareness of the European Union in Finland. CSOs play an important role in increasing knowledge and understanding of these matters and in promoting discussion related to the EU. The transfers strengthen CSOs’ Europe information and improve the citizens’ basic knowledge of questions related to the European Union and Finland’s membership of the EU.

In the application round 2018, the following matters were prioritised: the future of the EU and its significance to Finland; Brexit; economic and trade policies; the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); and the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, including defence. Emphasis was also put on young people’s opportunities in the EU and on the advantages and disadvantages of the EU membership.

During the application round, the focus was on the different aspects of communications, such as multiple channels, effectiveness of communications, and as wide dissemination as possible and accessibility of the produced material to the general public in particular. The contents produced by projects must be available to everyone, free of charge. The amount of discretionary government transfers granted to each project was between EUR 15,000 and EUR 50,000. The aim with this was to make it possible for CSOs to undertake more effective projects that would take account of the requirements set by the changed communications environment.

By the deadline set by the Ministry, a total of 43 organisations submitted applications for 52 projects. The one-year transfer is meant for the dissemination of information in Finland. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted discretionary government transfers to the following CSOs: